The Unstoppable Golfer: Trusting Your Mind & Your Short Game to Achieve Greatness

It is no secret that more than two-thirds of the shots a golfer makes are shorts ones: putts, chips, and pitches. Long drives may garner applause, but whether a golfer wants to win the Masters or just five bucks from a friend on Saturday morning, it’s the little shots that make the difference. In The Unstoppable Golfer, Dr. Bob Rotella takes the same wisdom and experience that have worked for clients like Davis Love III and David Toms to help you master this special art of short shots and avoid all the frustration out of this increasingly challenging element of the game.

Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game

In chapters such as "During Your Swing Is Not the Time to Give Yourself a Lesson" and "How to Enjoy a Bad Round of Golf," the author guides golfers with simple yet powerful techniques to prepare for, execute, and, equally important, respond to the results of any golf shot. The author, Dr. Joseph Parent, is a PGA Tour Instructor who draws on his teaching experience to offer special methods that have led to amazing improvements in the games of professionals and amateurs alike.

Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf

Over 50 years later, Ben Hogan's book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf is still considered one of the premier instructional books on the fundamentals of the game of golf. Renowned for his swing, Ben Hogan methodically describes his technique through his lessons. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, this famous book is a must-have reference guide for any golfer.

Balathayaparan Thayaparan says:"I love it, It is Really helpful to understand and play the game well."

How Champions Think: In Sports and in Life

From best-selling author Bob Rotella, America's preeminent sports psychologist, a groundbreaking guide to success in all aspects of life - not just sports - from business to relationships to personal challenges of every variety.

To be a golfer is to tinker-with everything from equipment to grip to swing. But one thing most players don't give enough attention to is the mental game. Psychologists aren't a new phenomenon in golf, but Dr. Michael Lardon is a different breed of performance coach. Instead of sending his players into a losing battle against emotion, indecision, and fear on the golf course, he shows them how to organize their thoughts and use them for maximum performance.

The biggest paradox in golf is that the harder you try to hit the ball, the worse you do so. In The Keys to the Effortless Golf Swing, Michael McTeigue offers you a simple system of sequential body movements that produces a true swinging motion with every club in the bag. The result is increased distance and greater accuracy for all sizes, shapes, and ages of golfers for a minimum investment in learning time.

The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods

The Big Miss is Hank Haney's candid and surprisingly insightful account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the supremely gifted golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history. Hank was one of the very few people allowed behind the curtain. He was with Tiger 110 days a year, spoke to him over 200 days a year, and stayed at his home up to 30 days a year, observing him in nearly every circumstance....

Zen Putting: Mastering the Mental Game on the Greens

Confidence, as every golfer knows, is the key to peak performance on the greens. Zen Putting: Mastering the Mental Game builds your confidence through a thinking-outside-the-box approach that helps golfers of all levels get out of their own way and roll the ball better than ever.

A Life Well Played: My Stories

As a follow-up to his 1999 autobiography, Palmer takes stock of the many experiences of his life in A Life Well Played, bringing new details and insights to some familiar stories and sharing new ones. Palmer has had tremendous success but is most notable for going about it the right way and always giving back to the fans who made it all possible. Gracious, fair, and a true gentleman, Arnold Palmer is the gold standard of how to conduct yourself.

The 1997 Masters: My Story

In 1997 Tiger Woods was already among the most-watched and closely examined athletes in history. But it wasn't until the Masters Tournament that his career would definitively change forever. Woods, then only 21, won the Masters by a historic 12 shots, which remains the widest margin of victory in the tournament's history, making it an iconic moment for him and sports.

The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf

Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the greatest match their sport had ever known.

The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever

Renowned novelist and screenwriter Mark Frost turns his eye for golf to an event so famous that it’s grown to the stuff of legend. In 1956, a casual bet between two millionaires eventually pitted two of the greatest golfers of the era—Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan—against top amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi. Frost recounts this dramatic tale from start to finish, detailing the match that vaulted golf out of the shadows and into the national spotlight.

Publisher's Summary

Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price, Tom Kite , Pat Bradley, John Daly, and many others. In Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect, Rotella, or "Doc," as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. Rotella creates an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition and with a conversational fashion in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. Rotella helps golfers improve their golf game and have more fun playing.

This book can help your game more than any technical manual or lessons. I swear the stuff in this book took me from an 18 handicapper to an 8. I've read dozens of books on the game and this is in my top five. You won't regret this one.

If you buy this audio book expecting it to shave 5-10 shots of your game by the weekend you will be disappointed - but if you do this I'll bet you have a garage full of training tools, drivers and putters that have disappointed you also !!. This, like Bob's other works, is instead a well researched and highly practical insight into the power of the mind and the effect it has n your scores and enjoyment of the game.

Bob's simple and no-nonsense approach to understanding and accepting what happens on the course has been of great value to me in a time when my handicap had slipped backwards a few shots, my frustration had increased and at times the enjoyment had gone for me. Thanks to Bob I now practise and play with a new sense of purpose and self-acceptance and as a result both my scores and enjoyment have improved.

Bob's focus on the short game, putting, pre-shot routines and strategy are the basis of the book (and all his others) and very well explained through his useful tips and anecdotes ? he has after all worked with an impressive array of pros.

This CD lives in my car and I listen to it at least once a week ? I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve AND is prepared to work towards it over time. Miracle seekers need not apply!

Bob Rotella takes what seem to be very complicated situations and turns them into screamingly obvious ideas and concepts.The ideas and principals are so simple and easily explained that one might wonder why they never thought of them.

It's so often that golfers blame the club, ball, course, weather or even their playing partner after a poor shot or round. "Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect" get's down to what issues really need to be addressed to improve one's game. It's not another "gimmicky" book or swinging aid. This book is about getting into the right frame of mind during play and finally being able to post the score you always knew you could.

What could a golf shrink tell me that I hadn't already figured out through years of frustration? Plenty. Although much of it is the power of positive thinking, the beauty is that it is focussed on how to manage a golf course, how to practice, what to concentrate on and how the professional golfer thinks. You won't be disappointed!

What made the experience of listening to Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect the most enjoyable?

Honestly I really enjoy listening to audio books, which may make my opinion bias, but this book may be one that could really get through to almost anyone. It's considered a self help book, but I would consider it a method of meditation :-)

What did you like best about this story?

The way he drops names in the book doesn't set an ego driven tone, but one of happiness. He goes through his time talking about his clients and their set backs and tribulations. How they strive for perfection, but understand the elements of the human condition. Not everything can be physical perfect, but you must be mentally close enough!

What about Dr. Bob Rotella’s performance did you like?

His voice was not boring, but very intriguing in a confident exciting way.

What did you learn from Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect that you would use in your daily life?

The mental aspect of how to live life and how to really set yourself up for success on the golf course... or any place that your two feet end up taking you!

This is a short and simple method to help ease your mind while playing golf. It's not a miracle worker but will definitely aid the "average" golfer if he/she applies the techniques described by Dr. Rotella. If you've found yourself focusing too much on mechanics in your swing or putt, OR if you're just a beginner looking for a good golf book, I'd say this will help both aspects (mentally). However, don't expect to get a tutorial on proper techniques, degrees, stances, etc. w/ this. It's strictly mental, and if you've played golf a few times, you know how mental the game can be. I purchased this yesterday and have already listened to it twice.

I started the year (2010) as a 7.1 handicap and steadily worsened to an 8.5. I hadn't shot in the 70's in over 9 months dating back to October 2009 and my handicap suffered because of it. I knew I had to do something other than increase my practice. I just had leaks in my game because I knew I was fully capable of shooting in the mid 70's. Well, I've played 7 rounds since listening to this book and I've shot 5 rounds in the 70's. It's funny how I was letting my mind get in the way of playing the game. I wasn't trusting my lines or my aim.

I may not be the typical result of this book but it really helped me concentrate on the correct things. It cleared my mind. It won't make you a pro overnight but it will help you improve quite a bit (relative to your current ability, of course). I highly recommend this to anyone who plays the game and overthinks the game....which I think is everyone!

Forget all those hours upon hours of practice on the driving range. Adopting the mind set suggested by Bob Rotella in this, the best of his many books, is what will really drop your handicap. I would recommend this as essential reading for golfers of all standards.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Mark

Brandon, Suffolk, United Kingdom

1/16/08

Overall

"Mostly common sense"

Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate. But here is why:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

John

Bolton, United Kingdom

7/4/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Forget the swing mechanics"

If you could sum up Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect in three words, what would they be?

Trust your swing. Bob Rotella's approach to teaching the methods of trusting your swing and implementing target golf is invaluable. He says forget the mechanics of your swing and your scores will fall. He gives us a method that is easy to implement and see the results. <br/>An excellent book for high and low handicappers.

What did you like best about this story?

The pre-shot routine to empty all mechanical thoughts of the swing and concentrate on the importance of selecting a target and trusting your swing.

Have you listened to any of Dr. Bob Rotella’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Giles

5/24/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Just buy it"

An invaluable, practical, guide to the mental approach to playing a round of golf. It is a book that you can keep coming back to so use the bookmark function!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Mike

12/27/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Exceptional simple and provides a warm feeling"

The audio book is highly recommended as it allows you to think deeply about the various sections.

Very simple and very effective way of thinking about golf. Positivity in abundance.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Ben

7/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Outstanding"

Superb audio book. Simple but effective course management. I'd recommend anyone that's looking to improve their game to give this one a listen.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Foster Maclean

Potters Bar

2/4/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"It's all in the mind"

Provides practical suggestions for all golfers, keeping it simple and easily understandable. Clear and succinct presentation.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Hafþór

Odense V, Bolbro, Denmark

12/23/12

Overall

"Knowledgable"

Just another book that is essential in a golfer's arsenal to beat his mental area of golf. I have little to say but its knowledgable and amusing from my behalf.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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